This late 19th-century oil painting by Austrian artist Otto von Thoren (1826-1878) depicts three horses pulling a cart across a shallow ford. Von Thoren was a celebrated painter of landscapes and portraits who became an elected member of three leading academies.

The sound of weighty hooves landing in water is near-audible as a passing breeze saturates the lungs. Verdant pasture, amplified by a recent downpour, shimmers underfoot while cattle graze. The voluminous sky is vast and endless.

Born in Vienna, a city abundant with masterpieces, von Thoren developed a skill for drawing from an early age. He was evidently from a family of considerable means as his first significant role was as a ‘cuirassier captain’ in the Hungarian military. Cuirassiers were mounted calvary equipped with a cuirass (armour), sword, and pistols. Théodore Géricault’s ‘A Charge of Cuirassiers’ (1822/1823) depicts the French eqivalent.

Von Thoren was indebted to his faithful steed and unquestionably developed a close bond with horses as a result of his service. These early experiences contributed to his success as a painter of animals, and he carried with him a nuanced appreciation of their character and spirit.

Following the Austrian Revolution in 1848, he left the military and moved to Venice, where he experienced its artistic treasures. Immersed in the old Venetian masters, he was imbued with a renewed determination to become a painter of considerable merit.

He undertook his formal training at the Amsterdam Academy of Fine Arts before heading for the buzzing ateliers of Paris, which would become his home for several years. During his time in the French capital, he frequently visited Szolnok and the dusty plains of the iconic Puszta in Hungary. Here, he produced several exhilarating early works depicting the lifestyle of its horsemen and cattle herders. In ‘Horse Drivers in Hungary’ from 1871, there’s a sense of wilderness, as windswept animals emerge from the shade, the sky teeming with rain, towards a distant patch of illumination. It’s semi-apocalyptic and poignantly conveys the connection that man has with beast. It’s held at the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent.

His brushwork, which at times is impressionistic, could deliver energy and solidity in equal measure. His studies were often electrifying and overrun with vigour, such as ‘Quadriga in an Evening Landscape’ and ‘Hungarian Wagon’. Indeed, as we cast a modern eye over these today, they’re practically contemporary. Yet equally, he captured the quiet solemnity of nature - man in harmony with his environment. Working horses pull farmers atop sturdy haycarts as cattle graze in distant pasture.

In an extraordinary validation of his abilities, he was elected a member of the academies at Vienna, Amsterdam and Saint Petersburg. Also becoming a Knight of the Legion of Honor and winning numerous medals. His portrait of Franz Joseph I of Austria, which was shown in Paris, was presented as a gift to Napoleon III.

In 1889, he died in Paris, having produced a masterful body of works, which encapsulate, especially, his appreciation for the spirit of horses. His son, Maurice de Thoren, became a painter and illustrator.

Today, works by Otto Von Thoren are held at numerous museums, including at the Musée d'Orsay, Musée du Luxembourg in Paris, Paisley Museum and Art Galleries, and in Brooklyn, Baltimore, Ghent, Gratz, Kœnigsberg, Leipzig, Liége, Paisley, Reims, and Vienna.

Signed in the lower left and held in a later frame.

Learn more about Otto von Thoren in our directory.

Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 42½” x 28½” / 108cm x 72cm
Year of creation: c. 1880
Labels & Inscriptions: Artist’s biography on reverse.
Provenance: Private collection, Austria.
Condition: Cleaned. Canvas relined. Craquelure throughout. The paint layer is stable. Frame in good condition with minor age-related wear. 
Artist’s auction maximum: £45,300 for ‘Sonntag im Tiergarten Bois de Vincennes’, Oil on panel, Dorotheum, Old Paintings and Watercolor of the 19th century, Vienna, Austria, 29 November 2001 (lot 63).
Our reference: BRV2102